Choosing flooring for a home with dogs
Which wood flooring is best for dogs? Is man’s best friend your wooden floor’s worst enemy? Despite popular belief, it isn’t! There is a common misconception that dogs and wooden floors don’t mix, but here at Chaunceys, we believe that having a four-legged friend shouldn’t get in the way of you and the wooden floor of your dreams.
Recent statistics show that over a quarter of UK households own a dog and we believe there is no reason for all the dog lovers out there to miss out on getting the high-end look they want with high-quality wooden flooring. There are many suitable options for dog owners who are worried about their floorboards getting damaged by their excitable pets. Of course, there are some types of wooden flooring which are more dog-friendly than others.
For easy-to-maintain, wood floors that work with your dogs we recommend:
AVOIDING SOFTER WOODS WHEN YOU HAVE DOGS
Both Douglas Fir and Pine can create a beautiful base for your interior, but both are naturally softer woods, making them inappropriate in a dog owner’s home. When it comes to the most suitable species, we would recommend hardwoods such as Oak, European Ash, and Dutch Elm.
GET DISTRESSED
A textured or distressed floor will make any scratches less noticeable. We recommend our Sawn & Brushed Collection These boards have been band sawn across the width of the timber and wire brushed to provide a rustic, tactile finish which will hide scratches well.
A textured or distressed floor will make any scratches less noticeable.
A convincingly aged look is also a good option for dog owners. Our Regency® Collection offers the character and distressing of reclaimed oak boards and the stability of engineered flooring.
OIL OR LACQUER
A lacquered finish sits on top of the wood flooring, rather than penetrating the wood as an oil-based finish does, and as such is more prone to surface scratching than oil-based finishes. However, this can be circumvented by adding a hardener to the lacquer, protecting your flooring. It’s important to remember that with a lacquer you are actually walking on a protective topcoat and not the actual wood; in short, lacquer slows down wear on the wood itself.
In so far as touching up your flooring goes an oil finish is far simpler to spot repair than a lacquered finish. If any problems arise on an oiled floor, spot repairs can be made in small areas and will be unnoticeable whereas, with a lacquered finish, a large area of scratches or wear would need to be sanded back and re-finished to avoid the floor finish looking patchy.
SHEENS
In terms of sheen, if you are going for a light finish – matt will work best for hiding any scratches, but both gloss and satin sheens can work too. If a darker finish is what you are after, a matt sheen is ideal as scratches can show up far easier on a satin or gloss finish.
ADDITIONAL FINISH HARDENER
We can add a hardener to any oil or lacquer creating a more robust finish for your wooden floors.
COLOUR
We’d advise going for a lighter colour board and finish so that if there are any scratches at the topcoat, they will be less noticeable. Alternatively, if you have your heart set on a darker floor, you could go for a board which has been treated so that the colour penetrates right through the thickness of the board, such as our Deep Smoked, Thermo-baked boards or distressed dark colours from our Regency Collection.
We’d advise going for a lighter colour board and finish so that if there are any scratches in the topcoat, they will be less noticeable
TRY A PAINTED BOARD
Choosing a painted board will allow you to quickly touch up any dog-related wear and tear with the paint colour you originally finished the flooring with, or, you could embrace the wear and tear and enjoy a true-to-trend shabby-chic, dog-made distressed look.
PREVENTION
LEAVE THE DIRT AT THE DOOR
A mat well or entrance mat is a great idea to minimise those dirty paws and muddy footprints. Try to keep an old towel close at hand for those particularly muddy walks.
CLIP THOSE NAILS
Keep your dog’s nails trimmed to prevent those unwanted scuffs and scratches.
CLEAN UP ANY MESSES AS SOON AS POSSIBLE
Unfortunately, accidents do happen. If there are any puddles left by your pooch, clean them up as quickly as possible. Urine is acidic and will stain the floor if it’s left uncleaned for too long.
MAINTAINING YOUR FLOORS
Hardwood flooring requires regular maintenance to keep it looking as good as new. The below Chaunceys approved Saicos products will help protect and maintain your floor, to keep it looking beautiful for years to come no matter the damage your dogs may do.
FOR THOSE MUDDY PAW PRINTS
Eco Wash Care – an environmentally friendly and PH neutral floor cleaner. Cleaning with wash care weekly is essential if you want to maintain the natural beauty of your wooden floor.
KEEP THAT LOOK
We recommend our Eco Wax Care to restore the oils in the timber, helping to prolong the life and finish of your floors. You can also use Eco Wax care to spot-treat any damaged areas as and when they come up.
FOR PROBLEM AREAS
Our Magic Cleaner is an intensive bleach-free cleaner for all surfaces. It can be applied to worn wood surfaces to deep clean your floors, removing any dog-related stains or settled grime that was previously missed in preparation for a re-coating with hard wax oil.
